It’s hard to describe the disdain I have for so-called gun “buybacks,” since they are nothing but feel-good publicity stunts held by anti-gun bureaucrats to act like they are doing something to curtail criminal violence. They are so worthless, in fact, that Texas lawmakers are trying to ban them altogether!
Still, politicians in some anti-gun states continue to make a big deal out of “buybacks.” And two such recent events in New Mexico and California prove gun-banners are more interested in deceiving their constituents than actually cracking down on violent criminals who use guns for evil.
An article headline at koat.com summed up the jubilation over the August 23 “buyback” in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It read: “Gun buy-back eases worries about unwanted firearms.”
Of course, easing worry and making the community safer are drastically different things. Still, Miranda Viscoli, executive director of New Mexicans for the Prevention of Gun Violence, bragged about the 200-plus guns taken in by her group at the University of New Mexico Police substation.
“We’re getting all of the unwanted firearms out of communities,” Viscoli told the news station. “We know that communities that have more guns have more gun violence. That’s a simple fact.”
Of course, that’s not a “simple fact,” or any kind of fact for that matter. Before I explain why, let’s jump over to San Diego, California, where anti-gunners there also think they are doing the Lord’s work by compensating people in order to confiscate 270 of their firearms over the same weekend.
At that event, individuals received a $100 gift card for handguns, rifles and shotguns, or a $200 gift card for so-called “assault weapons.”
A report at nbcsandiego.com was even thorough enough to announce to all gun owners in the area that if they missed the event, “The public can always turn in their unwanted weapons at any Sheriff’s station or substation, as well as at any law enforcement agency.” Well, that’s a relief!
Now, here’s why both “buybacks” were bogus, feel-good efforts. And if the sponsors of the events don’t already know that it’s because they are ignoring the facts that are available to anyone wanting to look into the matter.
First, they can’t be “buybacks” because the government never owned the firearms they are confiscating through compensation. Equally as important, a 2022 study looking at the effectiveness of so-called gun “buybacks,” what the researchers called GBPs, and published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, concluded that such “buybacks” have no measurable impact on reducing violent crime.
The paper is titled “Have U.S. Gun Buybacks Misfired,” and was authored by Toshio Ferrazares, Joseph J. Sabia and D. Mark Anderson.
“Gun buyback programs (GBPs), which use public funds to purchase civilians’ privately-owned firearms, aim to reduce gun violence,” the paper’s abstract stated. “However, little is known about their effects on firearm-related crime or deaths. Using data from the National Incident Based Reporting System, we find no evidence that GBPs reduce gun crime.”
That said, the abstract provided further information that should put an end to the fallacy of such events once and for all.
“Given our estimated null findings, with 95 percent confidence, we can rule out decreases in firearm-related crime of greater than 1.3 percent during the year following a buyback,” the abstract concluded. “Using data from the National Vital Statistics System, we also find no evidence that GBPs reduce suicides or homicides where a firearm was involved.”
So, there you have it: gun buybacks are not effective at helping anything—except anti-gun politicians mislead their constituents and anti-gun groups make it look like they are “doing something” so they can solicit more donations.
Read the full article here